Tell Goodbye I Said Hello
by SunflowerCity
Summary: Heize knew the risk of stowing away on a pirate ship, he had run the math in his head. Sadly, things don't always add up to calculations. He should have factored in which crew owned the ship, but sometimes variables just don't make themselves known until it's too late. Of course he also didn't factor in the fact that he wasn't a human, but that's only a minor detail. On hiatus.
1. Potential for Disaster

_Well, to begin this journey I must mention that the title of this fic came from the poem "Suicide Note" by Akeemjamal Rollins. He is a fantastic poet and I recommend that people check him out! (If you want to check him out, you can find some of his poems, such as this one, on the Youtube channel Button Poetry)_

 _Also the standard disclaimer applies, I only own Heize and everything else is not mine~_

* * *

-1-

Potential for Disaster

The ground was shaking. The walls trembled and the floor quivered. Heize skipped over various rocks littering the alleyway, dodging the clouds of dust that arose from his steps. Sneaking a glance over his shoulders, He could see the dog lunging towards him. He scampered farther from its grasp, desperately trying to avoid the dangerous fangs aiming for his tail. His collar tinkled lightly as he ran, the cool metal bouncing off his chest in rhythm with every step he took.

The dog had been chasing him ever since he may or may not have stolen the scraps laid out for it. _No regrets though, a cat's gotta live somehow._ His tail twitched as a pair of teeth almost shortened it, the snap of said teeth dragging him out of his musings. The beast was gradually getting closer to the appendage. Sensing his impending doom if he were to loiter, Heize picked up his pace. He ducked past the different buildings and leaped over the garbage that cluttered the ground. Luckily, Heize was used to the winding turns of the alleys. I'd been living in them ever since he escaped the shitty pet store. " _Ah_ ," he sighed, " _what an exhilarating escape that had been._ " It was an escape filled with pirates and irate shopkeepers, a truly terrifying experience all in all.

A loud clang shot him out of his musings. Heize looked up to see a strange human with bright orange hair, a rather peculiar sight, running up and down the alleyways. She appeared to be looking for someone, if her shouting was anything to go by. She also seemed a bit annoyed as she called out to whomever she was yelling for. As the human got closer, her tone raised and became more urgent. Her urgent shouts, shifted into a sort of angry muttering, a type of anger commonly found in alleys like these. A dark aura surrounded her briefly, but Heize almost doubted that it was actually there or just his mind hallucinating it. This abrupt aura was so intense that it scared off the dog, despite being there for only a moment. Heize could relate, things never end well with an angry human, in his experience. Anger lead to yelling and yelling usually ended with pain. He quickly hid before she could notice him, fearing the orange human's wrath.

"Luffy! Where did you go?! You better not have gotten yourself into more trouble," The last part dropped off as the human adopted a nervous look.

Seeing the potential for disaster, as well as being spotted, Heize sprinted out of the alley, not before hearing others seemingly reply to her. " _Hopefully she'll find that friend of hers, not that it matters much to me_ ", He muttered softly to himself. Out in the open, He decided it was time to formulate a plan. Heize needed to get out of Loguetown, the only way to do so seemed to be to hitch-hike on a pirate ship or a navy ship.

If he were to hide on a navy ship, there would be a higher probability of the ship stopping for long times at various locations, but on the other hand, a pirate ship would travel at a faster pace. Time was of the essence, so he supposed that would seal the deal. Heize was going to hide on a pirate ship. Now it was just a matter of finding which one to choose, it was time to embrace his inner stowaway.

Running towards the dock, he figured his next course of action should be to decide which ship he was going to hide in. There were massive ships and small ships, all docked together. Strategically, he knew it would be better to look for a ship on the small size; the bigger the ship, the bigger the crew in most cases. The more crew a ship has, the greater chance for him to be seen. However too small of a ship leaves little space to hide. Ultimately, a medium-sized ship is the perfect size. Quickly scanning the dock, his eyes landed on the perfectly sized ship. It was a caravel-class ship, but not small enough where he'd be noticed right away.

Taking a brief glance towards the caravel, he judged the distance and adjusted himself to match. He launched himself into the air and landed gracefully on the railing. Dropping to the deck, he took a short tour of the ship to familiarize himself with the area. It was important to know the layout in order to sneak around at night. Coming to what seemed to be the storage room, he pulled a tarp that he had found over to a corner and made a little nest for him to hide himself in. After securing himself a place to sleep, Heize crawled over to the nearest spot he could see outside. Wide eyes caught the sight of a darkened sky with a single lightning bolt racing down to the ground. The resounding crash that echoed throughout the ship told him that the bolt had hit something. Taken by a sudden irrational fear, Heize raced back to his hiding spot. He curling under the tarp in his makeshift nest, shivering. ' _I hate thunderstorms. Loud noises aren't any better. Why'd it have to rain on today of all days?'_ He muttered to himself. Quietly pitying himself, he slowly drifted off.

By the time Heize had awoken, he hadn't a clue as to how long he had been asleep for. Long enough, he supposed, for whatever mess had been started in the heart of Loguetown to be ended. The sound of rain slapping the deck mixed with the telltale stomps of people alerted Heize to the crew's reappearance on the ship. Finally, he was going to leave this god-awful island. No more sleeping in alleys, avoiding being seen. Finally Heize could sleep in the corner of a storage room, avoiding being seen. Hm, now that he thought about it, not much had actually changed, just the location of his hiding spot. But never mind that, finally his plan would be put in action. Everything, if it went to his calculations, would begin in the Grand Line.

* * *

 _And there we go! First chapter is done, even if I'm not quite satisfied with the length (I couldn't think of what else I could cram in there)_

 _Hopefully the next chapter, will be longer, as there is more action and excitement!_

 _Just a brief little note though, I must thank all the wonderful fic writers that inspired me to actually branch out into an OC fic. This is the first fanfic that I've written by myself, and before now I usually avoided OC-centric stories. Haha look at me now, writing something I used to say I loathed, even better is that I've got no regrets about doing so!_

 _Next time, we'll be off to the Grand Line! - SunflowerCity_


	2. Not Today, You Silly Ocean

-2-

Not Today, You Silly Ocean

Thunder shook the entire ship. The weight of the noise bounced all occupants around, Heize even more so given his small size. He had been roughly awakened when he'd been tossed into the wall of the storage room. Huffing at the rude interruption to his sleep, Heize decided that perhaps it was time to look into getting food. He cautiously stuck his head out the door, nearly jumping back into the room when he heard voices.

A high pitch screech rang out, "Mountain?!" Heize, curious about the topic of the conversation, inched closer to the lounge of the ship, where all the humans seemed to congregate. As he slowly moved, the voices' volume rose until he could hear the full discussion.

"What? Do you mean that we will hit the mountain?" The same voice that had shrieked earlier continued. Heize had to stop and try his best to guess the context. Was this about the ship's course? Would they really be forced to smack into a mountain? His questions were answered when a familiar female voice answered the question.

She spoke slowly as if speaking to a child, "No. It's not like that! Can you see a canal here?" Ah. That solved the debate over the mountain then. They would simply go over the mountain as a result of the currents. ' _It is the Grand Line,'_ he supposed, ' _anything could happen and anything is possible.'_ He tuned the rest of the conversation out as the female human explained it to the rest of the crew. When he heard foot prints leave the lounge, he decided to take action and stepped carefully into the room. The lounge itself was very open and did not leave a lot of room for Heize to hide in case of an emergency. Quietly debating with himself over whether he should take something from the fridge or go for the rations, he glanced at the rations. If he were to snag something from there, it would take longer for the crew to realize as they would first have to go through the fridge's supply. Also there's a higher chance for them to dismiss the missing rations as a mistake in recording the rations.

Heize sighed, "I suppose that settles it then. Rations it is." He nudged the bag open with his nose. As he saw what was in the bag, Heize's eyes lit up. "Bread!" He gasped, "Actual non-moldy bread!" Congratulating himself on a wonderful find, he scarfed it down quickly. Although wonderful tasting, bread seemed to create a slight mess. However, on a pirate ship any crumbs left could be discounted as the crew being messy while eating.

Right when he was about to turn back towards the storage room, he noticed the almost eerily calm that had surrounded the ship. It seemed as if the weather had dramatically turned from torrential rain into a midsummer's day. ' _Suspicious,'_ his mind whispered. He had to agree. This shift seemed incredibly unnatural for even the Grand Line. Deciding to deal with it later, he kept moving towards his hideout. However as fate likes to screw him over, his little plan failed immediately. The ship shook and shivered, severely jostling every passenger. Heize could hear the crewmen outside yelling, though he couldn't quite make out what was being shouted.

Suddenly the ship seemed to rise, bringing the occupants along with it. There was a brief second of pause, almost as if whatever had raised the ship was appraising it, before it tipped backwards and just as suddenly as before, was launched forwards. Heize was thrown sideways into one of the legs of the table, gouging a piece of his tail on a splinter. The pain of being tossed around like a stuffed animal in the hands of a child, along with the pain in his tail caused Heize to grit his teeth in an effort not to screech. As surprising as ever, the ship crashed back down onto the sea, sending its residents along with it. Heize, cursing his small size, slammed into the floor of the lounge, releasing a groan on impact. _Hopefully this will be the end of the rough waters. 'If this is how it's going to be every time, I might die from repeated stress to the entire body.,'_ His mental complaints continued for another few seconds before he realized that this was the Grand Line and saying that was inviting trouble.

Giving in to his natural curiosity, Heize decided to take a peek at what was happening outside. He stalked over to the door he knew lead to the deck, and nosed open the door. By the time he had opened the door he managed to get a glance of the outside. The rain was pouring down, drenching his grey ears and whiskers. He yanked his head back in until he was no longer wet. Despite having his head inside, Heize was able to hear snippets of the conversation the crew was having.

A strange kid with a vest and straw hat laughed, "so, that means it's a magic mountain, right?" He seemed to be almost too easy going for the situation at hand.

Apparently someone else understood, as the only female crew member sighed, "It seems that you don't understand it." It seemed that the crew was used to this, if the rest of the crew's expressions said anything. However the female human was incredibly familiar to Heize. He stopped listening to the discussion in order to focus on his memory of the past. It was on the tip of his tongue. If they had met before in the pet store, he wouldn't feel so familiar, as he usually ignored all humans who entered. He did so in order to spite anyone who would think of buying him, even if they wouldn't notice. Since it wasn't the pet store, it must have been when he was on the streets. Ah! That's it! She was the human who scared off the dog purely from the darkness that surrounded her in anger! " _I guess she found the human she was looking for,"_ Heize mused lightly, feeling a bit of satisfaction at the problem being solved.

He blinked back into awareness with a large sense of strange kid with a hat shouted, 'I see the magic mountain! It's HUGE!" Just from the way he said it, Heize could tell that if it were to be written, it'd be in all capital letters. The strange kid's enthusiasm seemed to be one of those traits that could be stopped by nothing.

"Wait! What is that shadow?" The long-nosed human who had shrieked earlier seemed to be nervous. The shadow in question was in fact the Red Line. If the humans didn't move the ship, Heize was going to die along with them all.

In what would seem as a rare moment of intelligence and seriousness, the straw hat kid ordered, "Take a deep breath and hold the rudder tight!" Ah yes the rudder, the rudder that is in the room Heize is in now.

Wait. What?

Heize scrambled towards the door to the storage, tripping over himself in panic. He managed to exit the lounge just as the long-nosed human and the tall human made it to the rudder. Heize flopped onto the floor, panting in relief. He could hear the struggle the two humans were having with turning the rudder. ' _Surely,'_ Heize mused, ' _two humans would be able to do it.'_ Of course this being the Grand Line, he was proved wrong when a crack resounded through the ship and the humans suddenly shouted.

"The rudder is breaking!" The desperation broke through their voices. Heize felt his eyes widen and the beginnings of tears. He had to get to the Grand Line. He had promised! He couldn't die now, but was there anything he could do? Even if he showed himself, would he be able to do anything? Before he could run the numbers, he felt the caravel jolt to the side. Heize felt his entire body slam into the wall. As he fell onto the floor, Heize decided that next time he was going to just ride with his claws clinging to the ship's deck.

The ship seemed to launch forward, indicating that they'd made it onto the current, and were finally making their way up the mountain. Cautiously sneaking up to the door he'd launched himself out of a few minutes ago, Heize popped his head into the lounge. He glanced around and when he saw it was empty, he waltzed in and decided to treat himself after such a traumatic event. Grabbing some more bread from the rations, he sat down near the door to see what the crew was doing; they were crowding at the front, excitedly chatting.

"... there is a mountain blocking our way, what's that?" The tall, female obsessed human must have been be confused. Why would there be a mountain at the base of another mountain.

The female from before agreed with me as she responded in kind. "A mountain? That's impossible! If we get through this passage there will only be sea!" Her voice was followed a deep bellow that struck far into Heize's heart. There weren't any words to it, but any animal would know what it meant. It was a scream of pure depression. A loss of friends and a tale of woe was what could be heard from the creature, whatever it was.

Heize was struck speechless from the sadness momentarily. The humans were obviously not as affected by it, as they didn't mention it besides questioning its existence. The bellows grew louder as the caravel moved forward, almost as if the creature that was shouting was getting closer as well. The thought of that being true made Heize nervous. If it was that loud then it was a big creature. Suddenly the crew outside began to shriek, catching Heize's attention. He poked his head outside only to see that the apparent mountain was actually a giant whale who had been bellowing the entire time. The poor creature's head was covered in scars and its eyes were lifeless but full of an unresolved sadness. Unfortunately, the unfortunate whale was in their path.

Wait. How were they supposed to get around a massive whale that took up the entire current, with a broken rudder? Struggle through? While he had his mental breakdown, he barely caught that the straw hat kid sprinted by, heading towards what seemed to be the storage room. What for? Heize didn't know until he heard a signature explosion that seemed to shock everyone in the area. The whale included it seems, if its wide eyes were anything to go by. ' _The blast of the cannon seemed to give just enough force to soften the caravel's inevitable crash into the whale, just enough to hit the figurehead,'_ Heize noted with tears in his eyes. ' _Maybe now this madness will end'_

Heize's prayers went unanswered as the strange kid took offence to the figurehead falling and retaliated by punching the whale in the throat? ' _I got on the wrong ship!'_ Heize mentally wailed. He briefly felt his soul leave his body as the tears that were already in his eyes fell. The idiot kid continued to insult the whale as the tears continued to fall from Heize's eyes. ' _If that dumbass keeps this up, we're all going to get eaten.'_ By then, the whale had opened its giant mouth and the water rushed in, dragging the ship with it. The strange kid fell out, but Heize didn't get to see whether he survived or not as the door to the lounge slammed shut and he flew back, yet again. This time, hard enough that his vision started to spot. He crawled over to the rations yet again, all the while his sight blackened further. By the time he had reached a suitable hiding spot, he was about to pass out. And pass out, he did.

* * *

 _Hello! I am still kicking! I just want to thank everyone who followed/favorited or reviewed this story. I wasn't expecting such a response to this pet project of mine so all of this has made my day!_

 _ _A bit more action, no? Here is a bit of dialogue that was missing from the first chapter, haha that chapter was a little quiet.__

 _I managed to spit this chapter out right before school kicked back up for me, so the next chapter might take a bit longer!  
_ _Nevertheless, the next time we shall meet, will be inside of Laboon!_

 _See you then!_ _-SunflowerCity_


	3. Stomach Acid is Not Good For the Fur

-3-

Stomach Acid is Not Good For the Fur

If you've never been eaten by a gigantic whale, Heize would definitely not recommend it. It had always sounded incredibly traumatic to him. Burning alive in stomach acid, only to later be smashed together with other bits of trash and sent out the rear would be an awful way to go. Heize believed that the only way to die was to face it head on. To die with dignity, but of course those who face it head on could still be utterly terrified, and terrified he was.

Regardless, Heize poked his head out of the door to the deck as he no longer felt the sloshing about of being swallowed. His mouth dropped open when he saw the cloudy sky. The cloud surrounded a small island with a little house on it.' _I'm about 96.5% sure that I was eaten by a giant whale, so either this is a hallucination, or I've already died and this is supposed to be the afterlife. If this is my afterlife, I'm suing. I don't want to spend it with these danger-magnets.'_

Right as he finished his musings, a giant squid arose from the stomach acid, if he were to assume this was the inside of the whale. It lunged towards the ship and Heize suddenly wished he had chosen a different ship as the ship jolted back. Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it was shot with three harpoons. ' _This ship is bad for my health, I kind of miss my alley,'_ Heize internally complained.

The tall crew mate and the green crew mate had been geared up for a fight, while the other two had cowered on the floor of the deck.

"Someone is here," the green crew mate noted. ' _Impressive thinking, I would have never guessed without your brilliant deductions,'_ Heize sassed.

"I just hope he's a good guy." the tall crew mate seemed almost nervous, adding a hint of fear to the still shocked Heize.

The cowering crew mates who were a little too close to Heize's hiding spot, expressed their wish to go home, and to see someone who Heize could only assume was the strange vest wearing crew mate. Heize stiffened as he realized that in his silent judging of the crew, the door had swung open and let out a creak from the hinges.

A shriek came once again from the long-nosed crew mate , "W-w-w-what was that?" The still blubbering crew mate almost wailed.

Heize felt a bead of sweat drip down his face as the glare of the two crew mates at the front of the ship landed on him.

The female crew mate took this chance to speak, though she didn't seem very confident, "Is that a cat?"

In a flash, Heize felt himself get lifted by his scruff, the rest of his body going limp as a result. His ears flicked back towards his skull, and his mouth raised into a snarl. the green crew mate who was holding Heize just gave him a harsh look, as if daring him to continue with his show of bravado. He let his ears sink down and he completely did not pout. Heize didn't pout, ever. Just like how he never gets caught when sneaking. Wait. No. Bad example.

The tall crew mate took a look at Heize and asked a fairly reasonable question, "How did it get onto the ship?"

"Maybe it got on in Loguetown?" the long-nosed pirate didn't seem to be confident in his very much correct answer.

"Maybe it belongs to the other person in this place." Despite her initial uncertainty the female crew mate gave a very acceptable answer. Of course it was wrong, but Heize could appreciate a good thought process. "We can ask whoever is here when we see them." She finished, ending the discussion over Heize.

The green human handed Heize off to the long-nose who held Heize out in front of him as if Heize would give him diseases just from being near him. Heize debated lashing out in order to escape the uncomfortable hold, but with the glare the green human was giving him, he decided that maybe this wasn't the correct time to try to run.

From the little house on the small island, what appeared to be a flower walked out.

"A flower?!" Both the green and tall crew mates shouted at the same time.

The tall human clarified with, "No, he's a human." He seemed to be a bit shocked at the stranger's appearance, Heize was as well. The stranger wore shorts and a t-shirt, like many other humans Heize had seen before. What set him apart from the rest was the flower petal like objects poking out from the back of his head. They almost looked like the feathers of a peacock, surrounding his face.

Heize snapped back into attention when he heard the tall human shout, "Can't you say anything?!" His face almost seemed to morph in his anger.

The stranger sat in silence in response, almost as if he were playing a joke on them all. Heize could believe that was what was happening. The peacock-stranger was lounging on a chair reading a newspaper. If he were feeling threatened by this crew, he would have a more tense body language.

The human holding me shouted in retaliation towards the stranger's relaxation, "If you want to fight us, we aren't scared of you! We have a cannon!" Ah yes the cannon. A perfect way to attack someone while inside of a gigantic whale.

For the first time, the peacock-stranger spoke, "...Don't even think about it or someone will die." He said it so flatly that Heize could feel the hair on his spine raise in response.

The tall human seemed to take that as a challenge. "Who is going to die, old man?" Despite his bravado, he seemed to be a little nervous. Probably at the prospect of facing a more experienced and confident opponent.

However the words from the peacock stranger completely erased the character Heize had been building about the stranger. "Me." The short reply irritated Heize to Hell and back. Humans could be so annoying.

It seems it irritated the tall human as well ashe shouted back in response with, " YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF!" The anger almost made his teeth elongate and sharpen, but then again that would be very much impossible for a human.

The green human was smirking at the tall human's ire. He attempted take over the questioning by saying, "Calm down! Who are you and what is this place? Can you tell us?"

The stranger gave a glare and then paused, yet again, before answering, "Before you ask questions, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"

The question seemed to make the green human stop and think for a moment. He apologized, "Ah, you're right. Sorry."

However before he could continue he was interrupted by a short monologue from the peacock-stranger. "My name is Crocus. I am 71 years old, a Pisces, with AB blood type. I am a caretaker of the Futako Mizaki City's lighthouse."

The interruption enraged he green human as he almost screamed, "SHOULD I KILL HIM HERE?"

Heize couldn't help but chuckle at the crew's luck. First they got stuck in a huge storm, then eaten by a giant whale, then they meet a stranger who has been messing with them from the moment the crew was eaten. He continued to laugh until he realized that this was also his luck now. Ah. That killed his laughter fairly quickly. Reality is a cruel bastard.

By the time that harsh truth had set in, the conversation had covered the fact that they had been eaten by a giant whale, which should have been obvious, at least to Heize. Heize also found out that there was an exit door and the walls were painted. The painted walls threw him for a loop for a moment. Did this mean that the paint was non-toxic, or did Crocus poison the whale to kill him off slowly? Or was Crocus unaware of the dangers ingesting paint would cause? Regardless it was pretty dangerous too paint the inside of a living creature.

Heize was once again knocked out of his musings when his body shook from side to side. He turned his head to glare at the long-nosed pirate before seeing that the human was shaking as well. In fact, the whole whale seemed to be tossing to the side. Crocus, however, did not seem surprised at the shaking. Heize could have sworn that he heard Crocus mutter, "It begins." Crocus, the sneaky bastard, was withholding plenty of information from them, anyone could tell. The island floating in the middle? Surprise it's an iron ship. ' _That makes sense though, the stomach acid would corrode the wood quickly if it weren't plated with iron. This crew had better get us out of here if they don't want their ship to completely dissolve and be digested'_

Crocus threw the crew a bone by explaining one of the many questions they had, "This whale is using its head to hit the Red Line." And if that wasn't the saddest thing Heize had heard since leaving Loguetown then he didn't know the meaning of the word sad.

The female human understood, "Yes, I saw the many scars on his forehead. Besides, he pulled his head up to the sky and cried." In response to a question about the meaning of the whales cries from the human holding Heize hostage, the female responded with, "He must be sad!" Another logical statement from the female pirate. This time it was correct. Heize could hear the bellows of pain as the acid sea rocked the ship. The pain was not from the scars being gained, Heize could tell.

The green human, who seemed to lack a bit of empathy, said, "The mystery is solved so let's get out of here. If we don't hurry, we could be digested."

The tall human agreed. "We aren't whale hunters and we don't have any reason to save this whale. So, we should get out of here." Internally Heize scoffed at the two, ' _I guess the empathy of the crew comes from those who aren't these two.'_

There was a dilemma. The ship couldn't reach the exit, but they had to hurry and find their remaining crewmember. Suddenly, a splash caught everyone's attention. Peacock-Crocus had jumped into the acid sea. ' _Wouldn't that hurt?'_ Heize winced at the thought, then mentally shrugged. ' _If he wants to let himself be corroded until he's nothing but bones before being excreted, then have at it.'_

After spending a few seconds looking at where Crocus had dived, the green human made the excellent suggestion that the crew begin rowing towards the exit. The long-nosed human passed Heize off to the female human and was about to begin rowing when screams were heard.

Three falling figures had launched out of the exit, and when one got close enough, the green human called out, "Luffy?"

"Everyone's safe? Anyways, save me first," Strange-Luffy replied nonchalantly, as if he wasn't about to fall into a sea of acid. His freefall lasted about three seconds before he made a large splash. The crewmembers let out a choked off shriek of surprise and rushed to help him.

By the time Luffy had been saved, the whale stopped ramming its head into the Red Line, or so it would seem. The crew had even saved the other two strange people, after Luffy of course. Heize spared them a glance from the female pirate's arms. ' _Miss Ponytail and Mr. Plastic Crown are awfully suspicious. Did they get eaten by the whale as well?"_

Somewhere along the line Crocus had resurfaced and reappeared in the doorway to the exit. "As long as I'm still alive, I won't let anyone touch this whale!" He shouted.

Heize's suspicions about the strangers turned out to be correct when they suddenly stood up and pulled out a pair of what appeared to be grenade launchers. They fired, then laughed and shouted, "But we are inside the whale now! That means we can destroy the stomach and get out of here! You can't stop us anymore!"

Crocus ground out, "Hooligan people!" through gritted teeth. He leaped from the doorway, placing himself directly in the path of the bombs.

As the long-nose put it, "He used himself as a shield to protect the whale!" Perhaps Heize's initial judgement on this human was a bit unfinished.

The evil duo laughed and crowed, "It's worthless! No matter what happens, this whale must be food for our town!" This statement brought back Heize's original thoughts about the paint. ' _Would the paint on the inside of the stomach make this whale inedible or just unsanitary?'_

The crew seemed to be incredibly confused, while Crocus was gearing up to fight once more. At least, before Luffy came up behind them and knocked them both out with one hit, sending them crashing into the ground. "Anyway, let's take care of them first!" He said, with a completely serious look on his face, as if he didn't just slam their faces into the dirt. The silence that responded to him was almost tangible.

* * *

 _That was so very much harder than my last two chapters! I apologize if it seems like the characters are ooc! I'm not the best at dialogue if you can't tell haha, and this was a bit dialogue heavy, though next chapter should be a whammy if this one was a little hard because of that._

 _Also I'm a bit sad because I wanted the chapter title to be "Stomach Acid is Not Good For the Soul" but it was too long to fit and it would bother me if it mismatched so I had to change it._

 _Anyway~ Heize got found out! And mostly forgotten about from the crew! Though there was plenty going on around them._

 _Thank everyone again for responding to this story as much as you did! It makes my days a lot brighter_

 _Next time we will meet as we say goodbye to the Reverse Mountain Arc and perhaps move to Whiskey Peak? (boy do I have a plan for that~)_

I'll see you there! ~SunflowerCity


	4. Well, That Sucked

-4-

Well, That Sucked

The silence continued for a solid minute, then there was a collective sigh from the pirate crew. It seemed that this might have happened a few times along their journey.

Crocus gave a sigh, before inviting the crew to hear his story while sitting at his makeshift island. The story he gave tugged at Heize's heartstrings. Laboon, the poor island whale who just wanted to find his friends. The friends who left him with Crocus to keep him safe, who supposedly abandoned the Grand Line or died, though statistically the chance that at least one crew member was alive was around 70%. And the sad Laboon had been smashing his head into the Red Line to try to break through ever since.

The story tugged at Heize's heart, the side of him that was weak for such stories cried while hearing Laboon's tale.

By the time Crocus had lead them outside of Laboon, Luffy had already invited him to his crew. Luffy, however, had still not realized that the female pirate, that had been introduced as Nami, was still holding Heize. ' _It was only a matter of time'_ , Heize supposed.

Sticking true to their pirate nature, the crew had thrown the evil duo off of their ship once they had reached the water. The duo had cursed them and promised to someday kill Laboon before swimming off. What a strange couple of people.

Crocus continued telling the crew his tale, this time starting with how he tried to get Laboon to stop hurting himself. To no avail of course. Laboon became enraged at the thought of his crew abandoning their quest and attacked the Red Line with more vigor. Crocus then shared that if Laboon were to continue smashing his head, he would die. This shocked the entire crew, Heize as well. To be so desperate to break through a barrier and risk your life, was incredibly hard to do and keep doing.

Luffy, inspired in a strange way of his own, launched himself towards Laboon while holding the mast? He then shouted, "RUBBER FLOWER ARRANGEMENT" and slammed the mast into poor Laboon's head, piercing it. The peanut gallery roared in anger, and Laboon shrieked in pain and rage. He tilted his head, with Luffy and the mast still on it, towards the ground and shot himself towards it. His head smashed into the ground, along with Luffy.

Crocus almost screamed, "That.. that kid!?" His disbelief and anger bled into his tone and face.

Nami responded to this by holding him back, "It's dangerous Mister! Don't worry about him, he won't die!" Heize internally disagreed because, hello smashed into the ground by a enormous whale intent on killing you, but hey, agree to disagree.

Apparently Heize was wrong, as Luffy stood back up and laughed. Laboon's enraged bellow resounded around the island. They continued trading blows until Luffy was knocked back into the wall of the lighthouse.

The green pirate, who Heize now knew was named Zoro, screamed, "Luffy! What do you think you are doing?"

Luffy just ignored this and shouted, "We're even now!" He paused and then lowered his voice slightly, then gave a grin "I'm very good right?" Laboon's eyes widened. "But we don't know the outcome of this fight. So we have to fight again in the future. Your friends already died," Heize winced at this. "But I am still alive. We will travel around the Grand Line, and we will come back to see you again!"

The island whale's eyes watered, and with the next line Luffy said, he released his cry. "LET'S FIGHT AGAIN NEXT TIME!"

Laboon cried, the loud bellows echoing the sea, but instead of raw pain, it was filled with a hopeful sadness. Luffy's grin widened, "Usopp! Let's get the paint!"

The long-nosed pirate, now named Usopp in Heize's mind, balked for a moment then sighed and went along with Luffy's plan. Heize could only watch as Luffy took the paints and used them to create a monstrosity on the poor whale's forehead. It was almost similar to the flag flying on their ship, a jolly roger with a straw hat sitting upon it.

"Alright! This is the sign of the promise between me and you!" Luffy looked very proud of himself, despite creating an atrocity and making a general mess everywhere. "You can't hit your head and make this sign disappear until we come back to see you again!" After hearing a small agreeing bo, Luffy's grin widened until it was almost impossibly wide.

Turning back to everyone, it seemed that Heize's luck was finally up, as Luffy finally asked, "Oi Nami, what's with the cat? Did you pick one up without showing me first?" He was pouting.

She was so incredibly exasperated sounding with her reply that Heize almost chuckled before remembering he was the center of the discussion. "No, dumbass. We found it hiding out on the ship. We were going to ask Mister Crocus if he knew whose it was."

"Oh. Oi, old mister! Is this your cat?" His insensitivity towards any subject was astounding.

Crocus gave him a quick glance before denying knowing Heize. "I've never seen that cat before, though it does seem to have a collar. I'd say it was male as well."

Nami took a peek at his collar, which Heize lashed his tail harshly at, even though such a motion was completely useless. "All it says is Heize. Do you think that's his name?"

The others seemed to consider this before giving up. "Well, it might as well be now. There's no way we'd be able to find his original owner out in the Grand Line." Sanji, the tall human, spoke up.

Nami considered this. "Hmm I suppose you're right. What should we do with him then?"

"Why don't we just keep him?" Luffy gave Heize a glance that basically told him that he was Luffy's new toy that he couldn't wait to break in. Heize felt a shiver go down his back.

"What if the thing has diseases and was abandoned by his owner?" The incredibly wrong Usopp cut in. Heize was completely free of all parasites, and he was very proud of this!

"Let's just take him to the next island we go to, at least one person has to be willing to take him off of our hands." Nami, ever so level headed interjected.

Scoffing lightly and muttering, "Troublesome," was the only reply Zoro gave, but it wasn't a denial so Heize would take it. Finally he could leave this danger-magnet crew and survive hopefully without too much trouble.

Nami set Heize down, and declared, "I'm going to set our course!"

As if spurred on by a single member being busy, the rest of the crew found things to do. Usopp fixed the mast that probably had blood on it still. Sanji cooked a very interesting sounding fish that Heize was suddenly very interested in. Zoro simply decided to nap. Heize made to follow Sanji into the kitchen, but was blocked by a foot.

"No animals allowed in the kitchen while I'm cooking." His glare set this rule in stone.

Heize sulked back towards Luffy, who wasn't doing much. Deciding to take his chances, Heize jumped up onto his shoulder. He adjusted himself slightly and settled himself. Luffy, thankfully, only spared him a slight grin and continued his non-activities.

Being the most comfortable he had ever been in the last few days, Heize sighed and prepared to sleep. However some beautiful things were not meant to last, as a scream broke the peaceful silence.

Luffy only looked up and casually asked, "What? You're being so noisy?" While Heize only lifted one eyelid up to send a sleepy glare from Luffy's shoulder.

Sanji, whose actions surprised Heize, came running carrying a tray of food. "What happened, dear Nami-san? If you're hungry the food is ready now!" His words came out in a rush, almost as if they were pushing their way out of his mouth.

Nami's frustration leaked into her expression as she shouted, "The compass is broken! It won't stop spinning!"

Crocus' expression twisted to become more thoughtful before he launched into what seemed to be a lengthy explanation. Sensing the unnecessary information, Heize, like Luffy, decided to focus on the food. He walked down Luffy's outstretched arm and snatched a piece of fish before Luffy could eat it all. Heize took a bite and felt his eyes go wide. He couldn't think of a time that he'd ever eaten something that tasted so good. He wanted to cry. To think that a human could actually produce something this wonderful.

The expositional information Crocus was providing seemed to slow down as Luffy asked, "Does it look like this?" He asked this particular question while holding up his wrist that had a strange compass on it. It had the same needle as a regular compass but the needle was surrounded by a glass dome and mounted on a leather band. Crocus confirmed that it was indeed a log pose.

Nami's fist slammed into Luffy's face. "HOW CAN YOU GET SOMETHING LIKE THIS?!" The same dark aura as in the alley surrounded her. Honestly speaking it scared Heize slightly, he scampered over to where Usopp was standing and moved until he was standing behind Usopp's legs.

Luffy was undisturbed by the show of violence. "Those mystery people left it on our ship."

"Them?" Nami questioned.

"Yeah." Luffy gave her the log pose then continued eating the fish as if he'd never been punched or yelled at in less than a minute ago.

Crocus helped Nami understand that each island had it's own magnetic field and the log pose recorded the field then caught on to another island's field to direct ships towards the islands. He also stated that in the beginning each traveler picks a magnetic field path out of seven, however, they all lead to the same place. Raftel. The place that original Pirate King left all of his treasures. Not that Heize knew anything about that, that was human business. Not the business of any self respecting animal.

"Shall we go now? I'm full!" Luffy cut into the conversation, now finished with the fish. Heize was suddenly glad he managed to try a bite.

"YOU ATE THE WHOLE THING?" Sanji's mouth was agape and there was the illusion of shark teeth.

Usopp's eyes widened to inhuman proportions. "He even ate the fish bone!?"

Nami, either too enraptured with the log pose or too used to these conversations, ignored everything. She simply stated, "Log pose? I have to carefully take care of it because it is everything for our journey!" Surprisingly enough she looked a mixture of happy and excited at the prospect of their adventure.

Sanji, on the other hand, looked pissed. "Damn it! You ate the food that I had prepared for Nami-san! AND YOU ATE THE WHOLE THING!" He swung his leg up in a beautiful kick that Heize never wanted to experience. Luffy was launched an incredible distance. Unfortunately, apparent by the crash that could be heard, he went straight through the log pose, shattering it instantly.

Nami's face darkened and a murderous aura appeared. She shouted, "WHY DON'T BOTH OF YOU JUST CALM DOWN IN THE SEA!" Then with an impressive show of strength, she kicked them over the edge of a cliff into the sea. Her callousness made Heize shiver. ' _I do not want to get on her bad side.'_

When they made back from being launched over the cliff, the evil duo had resurfaced with Sanji and Luffy, every party equally soaked. However the duo had a plan to be put into motion. They asked for a ride home.

"Whiskey Peak? What is that?" Nami seemed incredulous that they would ask the crew.

"It's the name of our town." The duo was nervous and almost begging.

Nami brought her face near the male half of the duo, "You don't have a ship so you want us to take you there? Don't you think it's too easy, Mr. Nine? You were thinking about killing a whale weren't you?"

"Tell us, who are you?" Ussop asked. It was a fair question. Who'd want to let a random stranger that they just fought with on their ship?

"I am the kin- " Mr. Nine was interrupted by Nami grabbing his cheek and pulling hard. Despite her size, Nami could pack a punch.

"Don't lie." Authority oozed from her voice.

The couple dropped to their knees and bowed deeply, "We can't tell you about that! But we really want to go back to our town. We will repay you if you help us!" They had a talent in speaking simultaneously.

Miss Wednesday continued their plea, " Actually we don't want to do this job, but "Mystery" is our company's motto. So we can absolutely not say anything more. Please help us from the kindness in you hearts."

Crocus interrupted before they could continue, "Don't listen to them! They're nothing but trouble!"

However Nami had her own way of deterring them, "Well, we accidentally broke our log pose, but do you still want to come with us?" She smiled apologetically, but Heize could see that she was internally smirking.

This, of course, enraged the duo. "WHAT? You broke it?! Wasn't that ours?" Mr. Nine screeched.

Miss Wednesday continued with, "How dare you try to take advantage of our misfortune when you are just as unfortunate as we are!"

However, Nami, the trickster she was proving herself to be, gleefully said, "Oh! I forgot, Crocus-san gave me a new one." The two shared a quick pained look before prostrating themselves once more. If possible, they bowed even lower and begged.

Luffy, ever so tactful, just stated, "Okay. They can come along if they want." He was proving himself to be very naive.

After a few minutes of gracious thankings from the mysterious duo, the crew set out to find

Whiskey Peak. Heize, not one for niceties, scampered off to his hiding place on the ship. He strived to avoid all interactions with humans.

He could feel the ship rock as they set off, bouncing along the waves. As a farewell, Laboon let out a bellow, one promising to see each other again. It echoed throughout the floorboards, reaching every passenger on the ship. Heize cursed his weak heart as his eyes welled up from the storage room. He was never good at goodbyes.

* * *

 _Waaaaaaa Finished! This was the most dialogue heavy chapters I've written yet, not that that will stay the same as I progress! As you can see, not much cannon has been shifted as of yet, but hopefully some changes will become prominent._

 _Also as a bit of a warning, be prepared for a bit of violence next chapter. I've switched a few things around so it can stand out a bit to add interest, or completely deter some._

 _If anyone has any guesses on what Heize can do, feel free to make guesses. I'll start confirming theories as I get them! I've put some hints throughout, but they're a bit hard to understand, it's a sort of "blink and you'll miss it" hint. I've taken a canon ability and twisted it a bit._

 _Next time we'll meet is in Whiskey Peak, so I'll see y'all there! - SunflowerCity_


	5. Don't Trust Those Who Welcome Pirates

_Just to make everyone aware, the paragraph that starts with "Geoffrey" begins the violence~_

* * *

-5-

Don't Trust Those Who Welcome Pirates

After a few days of sailing, Heize could feel the air begin to get cold. Almost as if it were winter time, he could see the frost climb through the floorboards. The crew was out on the deck, building snow statues and starting snowball fights. Grand Line was incredibly unpredictable, but Heize hadn't been aware that the weather was too. The bit of moisture that had gathered on his tail froze, encasing the tip with ice. ' _Why does it have to be so cold? When will we get to the summer climates? I think that we deserve some warmth after this.'_ Heize's complaints continued for the next few minutes.

Eventually he got tired of complaining and decided to exit his hiding spot. He started on his way to the deck, however the ship lurched. He felt himself launch towards the wall once again. ' _Curse my generally small size."_ Heize couldn't help but think about the mess that occurred at the beginning of the adventure he'd started. The mess where he was thrown around like a ragdoll in a drying machine. This was a repetition of that mess but instead of being thrown into every wall in the caravel, he was thrown directly into the wall on his right. It was almost as if they'd smashed into something huge, like an iceberg. But what were the chances of that? Too high.

By the time the ship stopped bouncing around, Heize was panting and lying on the floor. He pulled himself to his feet and dragged himself to the deck. He once again plopped down to the ground. Heize made it just in time to hear Luffy and Zoro have a short discussion about the evil duo's presence on the ship. Deciding to ignore it, he decided that it would be a good time for a nap and closed his tired eyes.

* * *

Heize opened his eyes slightly when he felt someone pick him up, the person was obviously unsure of how to hold him, if the way his head hung down and his ribs started to protest. He gave a light glare towards Usopp. Usopp, to his credit, seemed to sense his glare and passed him off to Nami with slightly shaking arms. "I can feel him glaring at me and I don't like it!" Usopp spoke quickly, trying to justify his reasoning.

Nami simply gave him an annoyed look before grabbing Heize. Apparently they had reached the island while Heize was asleep. He noticed that the strange duo was gone, but was unsure of where they'd gone. His mind finally awoke when a strange man with curls almost as big as Heize started speaking, "Welc-" he cut off to cough for a second before continuing, "ma- ma- maa~ Welcome! My name is Igarappoi. You may be a little shocked at the welcome, but this is Whiskey Peak, a town of liquor and music. Hospitality is our middle name."

Heize's eyes widened at the look of the strange man. The speech was a little too kind, but that could have been Heize's natural distrust of humans speaking. Nonetheless, the man began again, "If it's fine liquor you want, we have an ocean's worth. So please, I cordially invite you to the banquet and hope that you might entread- Ma-ma-maaa~ Entreat us with tales of your grand adventures." When he'd finished stuttering through the rest of his spiel, the crew, at least Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp, agreed gladly. And thus, the party began.

* * *

The party seemed to never end. Each member of the crew found a niche for themselves. Usopp told stories that the citizen's seemed to believe. Zoro and Nami both had drinking competitions, and Luffy out-ate everyone. Looking at the type of people here, Heize decided he did not want to stay on this island. Everyone was too loud and too excited. He wriggled from the arms of a child who had picked him up about halfway through the party. Heize had humored the child at first but this kid was pushing it a fair bit. He felt the kid tighten his arms slightly in response to Heize's struggling. Heize was impressed at the strength the kid had. It was almost as if he were prepared for a battle, but something like that would never happen.

Finally Heize was released when he lightly extended his claws. He jumped from the clingy kid's grasp, quickly running out of the party to find somewhere nice and quiet for a nap. That peaceful spot turned out to be the top of a rooftop of a very flat building. Peace and quiet for once while on this now disaster of a plan. The sky finally turned dark and Heize closed his eyes, relishing in the silence.

He was woken up to the sounds of fighting. The sounds of steel clashing and flesh hitting flesh. The screams of those who fell. The drips of blood hitting the ground. The shouts of anger that resounded throughout the town. Heize being the curious creature he was peered off the side of the building he was resting atop. He could vaguely make out the outline of Zoro fighting what appeared to be every citizen of Whiskey Peak. He could even see the faint silhouette of the clingy child who trapped Heize in his arms. ' _Hmm. How curious'_ Heize, becoming even more intrigued with the situation, decided to investigate further.

He plopped down to the ground and stalked through alleys until he reached the place where the battle was, just in time, apparently, for Zoro to disappear. He could hear Igarappoi mutter, "Is he seriously planning to take on all of us all by himself?" Ah. So were they all bounty hunters then? Heize supposed that would make sense. Butter up the victims before butchering them while they were inebriated. ' _Well this settles it then. I absolutely cannot stay here.'_ Heize mused, ' _I guess this means I must help those pirates escape then, if I want to escape this island'_

* * *

Geoffrey had never wanted to be a bounty hunter for Baroque Works. He simply wanted to be a freelance martial artist. Unfortunately he'd run in with the wrong crowd and now his dream was ruined. And now he was chasing a swordsman around a little town to kill him. He hated his job and his life.

Geoffrey followed the rest of the hunters through the town, ducking through any alleys that would take them closer to the swordsman, without getting too close of course.

As the bounty hunters ran across town, they ducked through alleys to avoid being seen by Zoro. They stopped moving completely when they heard a scream come from somewhere the swordsman was not. The scream was filled with utter pain, before cutting out with a crushed groan. A tickle of fear ran through the bounty hunters' spine, warning them of the dangers of continuing their path. They ignored the feeling and quietly walked through the pathway. One particular bounty hunter paused when he felt something snag on his jacket as he passed an alley. Suddenly, he was yanked into the alley before he had time to even scream. Geoffrey couldn't see. It was too dark, too quiet, and too loud all at once. The bounty hunter opened his mouth to scream when he saw a pair of glowing green eyes. Slitted eyes so unnaturally large, they couldn't come from a human. The eyes stared down at him, promising pain if he alerted the others, he quickly shut his mouth again. The creature seemed to laugh at him for this, as the eyes crinkled at the corners. However, Geoffrey didn't have time to marvel at the monster and made an attempt to run, only to be stopped by a loud crunch. The pain that followed was indescribable. It raced through him, setting every nerve in his body on fire. His leg, it was on fire. At least it felt that way. He could only scream and look into the glowing eyes. That damn monster had shattered his leg completely. Blood ran onto the dirty ground from where the bone had pierced the skin. Geoffrey's leg looked like someone had dropped a building on it, perhaps the beast had, he didn't know. All he knew was that he was going to die.

Geoffrey was right.

The beast's eyes grew in size as the shadows seemed to swell. The unnatural green glow brightening the alley until he could see a gaping jaw filled with fangs larger than his arm. Geoffrey feared that he would be eaten for a moment, until he felt it. A slash of fire across his chest. Each nerve danced in his body. They danced to a tune that the beast created, each beat pulsing from his leg as his chest created the melody.

As Geoffrey fell, he turned towards the opening of the alleyway and watched as his blood flowed farther through the cracks in the stone and sand, dying the street red. The blood would hopefully deter the rest of his squad. He felt teeth catch in his shoulder, then himself being lifted. Geoffrey's body was thrown against the back wall, his torso lit aflame with pain. His consciousness faded as he saw a enormous claw rake down towards him.

It seems his warning was unsuccessful, as when he began to close his eyes for the last time, the scream from one of his comrades reached his dying ears. His ears, that were listening to the song his nerves played. The song was finally reaching its climax, and was finally reaching the finale.

* * *

 _Hello! I'm back after not very long! Thought I did struggle very much with attempting line breaks as they just kept disappearing when I posted the story. Thus I resorted to the horizontal lines, though those bother me since I use them to separate from author notes._

 _Did I just name a character in order to (hopefully) create more emotion with his death? Yes, yes I did.  
_ _Poor Geoffrey just wanted to be a martial artist, but was sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time  
_ _He was a pure soul, curse the cruel beast who killed him!_

 _To answer any curious peoples, I haven't planned on giving Heize Haki as of yet, but who knows where the story will go~ I'll be sure to keep everyone up to date on the happenings of this story!_

 ** _Side note: Does anyone else think that the word "indescribable" looks incredibly strange? I can only really see 'bable' when I look at it and that bothers me! I had to look it up twice to make sure I wasn't being lied to by_** ** _auto-correct_**

 _My updating might become even more random as I have school most days and work a good portion of my nights, but I'll try to post at least once every two weeks._

 _Next time we shall meet with discussions and moving on to Little Garden! See you then~ SunflowerCity_


	6. Bloody Foot Prints

-6-

Bloody Footprints

Once Heize was finished with his… helpful interventions in Zoro's fight, he slinked out of the alley. He cringed at the sight of the blood that coated the ground. His paws left imprints as he walked, each foot doused in blood with his tail dragging behind him. Heize tried to shake the blood off of his feet but to no avail. ' _Gross. I hate the feeling of blood matting the fur in between my toes. Words cannot describe how much I hate that feeling.'_ Heize might not have minded spilling the blood, but he felt like he had the right to complain at the mess afterwards.

Heize made his way back to the pirates' ship, leaving the stench of blood and death behind. Footprints drenched in blood trailed his every step, a squelching sound following. ' _Hopefully this dries before I get back to the ship or they might notice that I've hitched another ride.'_ He continued his venture, the sun beating down on his grey body, drying the blood splatters even further. As he stalked through the town, the female counterpart of the evil duo-turned bounty hunters shot past, for some reason she was sitting upon a oversized duck. However, due to Heize's mental exhaustion, he couldn't be bothered to think about it. He just kept walking.

Eventually Heize did return to the caravel, but his feet did not end up drying, so a trail throughout the town followed him. Heize found that he didn't really care. He jumped up to the rail, then plopped down to the deck. Nudging the door closed, he trudged back down to the storage room. Finally Heize reached his special hiding spot and he curled up to take a short nap.

~I hate having line breaks~

Loud footsteps jolted Heize from his slumber, it seemed that he would never get a full rest, seeing as every time he tries something slams him into awareness. A familiar quack followed every pound on the wood. Soon after, lighter footsteps followed. This time with a slight clink. Both pair of steps seemed rushed, so Heize let his adrenaline rouse the rest of himself.

Rushing towards the deck, he stopped short of the door. The conversation the crew was having was just barely audible.

An unfamiliar yet familiar voice shouted to the crew, "Turn the boat around to head down this river and we should be able to reach the ocean! We have to leave as quickly as possible!"

Ah. So they were finally leaving this cactus island. Finally. It felt like it took a month for this development to occur.

Luffy, ever so laidback, asked, "Hey, so how many guys are gonna come after us?" Which brought Heize's mind to a halt. ' _What do you mean "come after us"? What have you gotten this ship into now?'_ He mentally weeped.

The same unfamiliar yet familiar voice answered. "I can't say for sure. There's reportedly 2000 people working for Baroque works. And towns like Whiskey Peak aren't that uncommon either…"

Nami screeched in incredibility, "You mean we could have 1000 people after us?!"

"It's possible considering how serious knowing the boss' real identity is."

After a beat of silence, Heize make out a jumble of questions being asked by Sanji and Usopp. Though he was unable to hear frankly any questions with how they were shouting at the same time, Heize heard the frantic tone they carried. However after a murmured conversation shared by Nami and Zoro, and a few thumps later, it was silent. Until of course, they asked the question Heize was anticipating.

Nami's voice was tinged with anticipated fear, "Hey, Zoro. Do you see the blood on the deck?" She had moved slightly behind him as she posed this to him.

He grunted in acknowledgment.

Footsteps inched closer to his hiding spot. The sound barely detectable. Heize could hear Zoro, following the trail that he'd left in his rush. The footsteps stopped just outside of the door. The doorknob turned, slowly but steadily. The door creaked open slightly, but before Heize could consider making a break for it, he felt himself get grabbed.

He was pulled up and up and up, the feeling of falling up never ending until he was too high. He was too high too fast and Heize didn't understand what happened.

"Poor kitty is a bit dirty." A woman's low voice drawled quietly. Heize felt his body tense as a hand trailed down his spine. The touch felt dirtier than the blood matted on his feet. The grasp on him tightened in his response to his stiffening. The stranger chuckled.

"Be careful not to crash your ship into the rocks near the shore. And congrats on you escape." The stranger called out to the crew, still holding and petting Heize.

The surprised exclamations that reverberated around the ship hurt Heize's ears to the point that they flicked down subconsciously.

Luffy noticed Heize and shouted up to the stranger, "Oi is that our cat?" The wording caused said cat to startle slightly, as he was an independent cat who did not need a human to claim him.

"Oh, this is yours? You must not take very good care of it then. It's very dirty, you know." She lifted one of Heize's legs as proof. The blood was painfully obvious even counting the distance between him and the crew.

Nami's face paled slightly, "We left him on Whiskey Peak, do you think he got hurt there and found his way back to Merry?"

Heize was done with the attention and uncomfortable hold. He struggled away from the stranger, but was met with incredible strength. Seeing no other way, he shrunk.

He shrunk not in the way of lowering himself to make a smaller target, but full on proportional shrinking by at least half a foot. Surprised, the stranger relinquished his hold on Heize. He dropped down to the deck and looked up. What he met was the gaze of the entire crew. And surprisingly the female half of the duo. Luffy stared at him with an excited glint in his eyes, to the point that they were almost sparkling. Zoro and Sanji looked on with interest, the former a bit more apathetic than the rest. Nami, Usopp, and Miss Wednesday gawked at him with their mouths dropped to the ground.

The stranger let out a startled laugh, "Oh my. What a surprising kitty you have there." With this, everyone finally looked away from Heize. ' _It took forever to get away from that she-witch,'_ Heize grumbled, ' _How dare she hold me like a lap dog.'_

"I must tell you Miss Wednesday, I met up with Mr. Eight just a little while ago…" While the stranger's words had no impact on Heize, seeing as he knew no one by such a name, it seemed that Miss Wednesday was deeply affected. Her face paled and eyes widened

"You mean… It was you who did that to Igaram?!" Her voice shook slightly as she spoke.

"Hey! Why're you on our ship anyways?" Luffy decided to jump into the conversation at this point and Heize was very confused with everything that was happening.

However this went unanswered as Miss Wednesday shouted up at the stranger, "What are you doing all the way out here Miss All-Sunday!

The crew seemed slightly panicked at her tone and Nami began the round of questions, "Who is it this time? Whose partner is she?"

"She's Mr. Zero's partner! She's the only one who knows the Boss' true identity. Which is why Igaram and I tailed after her, to find out who the Boss was!"

Miss All-Sunday chuckled at this, "Well, technically, it was more like I _let_ you tail after me."

Luffy muttered to Miss Wednesday, "Oh, so she's a good guy." Heize felt his eyes roll at the simple reasoning.

"I already knew that! And I bet you're the one who told the boss that his identity was leaked!" Miss Wednesday countered.

"Oh, so she's a bad guy!" Luffy pouted.

"Now, now… no need to get so worked up. I only let you follow me because you looked so desperate. And it was just too amusing to observe, a single princess who foolishly thinks she can take on the entire Baroque Works Organization and save her kingdom." Miss All-Sunday smirked. It looked like she was enjoying the turmoil she was causing Miss Wednesday. Heize would bet all he had that she was.

Miss Wednesday gritted her teeth and yelled, "Don't you underestimate me!"

With that statement, the entire crew excluding Miss Wednesday and Luffy, had drawn their weapons. The movement had been so in synch that Heize was surprised to see it from such a ragtag group of people.

Miss Wednesday was shocked. It was easy to read in her face. Her wide eyes, equally wide mouth and her stance said that she didn't expect such a response for her. Heize didn't expect it either.

Unfortunately it appeared it was for naught. "Would you please mind not pointing such dangerous weapons at me?" Miss All-Sunday quietly admonished the crew. As she said this, Usopp and Sanji, who were up on the rail with her, tumbled over. The rest of the crew saw their weapons flung out of their hands.

Surprised exclamations left every crewmember. A few, 'What's. A shout of, "It's a devil fruit, what ability does she have?" A long "Oh!" from the hatted member, and surprised silence from the orange haired member.

Sanji, proving to Heize that he had no self-control, cried out, "Whoa! She's a real beauty!"

Miss All-Sunday just snickered slightly, "No need to get so riled up. I haven't come here on any orders, nor do I have any reasons for fighting you." A ghost limb picked up Luffy's hat in the same way Heize was snagged. "So you're the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy." Her condescension was almost tangible.

The removal of his hat looked to enrage Luffy. "Gimme back my hat! So you _are_ trying to pick a fight with us, are ya' now!? I've decided to see you as my enemy so come at me!"

"How unfortunate. Small-time pirates having to look after a princess targeted by the entire Baroque Works Organization… and a lone princess having to entrust herself and kingdom to a few small-time pirates…" This time Heize was sure he could taste the previously mentioned condescension.

She continued, ever so rudely, "But above all, how unfortunate the route pointed out by your log pose is! The name of the next place on your journey is, 'Little Garden.' Even if I weren't to lay a single finger on you, it's more likely that you'd still never reach Alabasta. Without even meeting Crocodile, the curtains will close on your mission and lives."

"As if we'd just roll over and die! Now gimme my hat back! Yeah! How dare you! Y-you big meanie!" Luffy probably wasn't listening to most of Miss All-Sunday's spiel.

A quiet "How old are you?" was heard from Zoro, a question that had Heize wondering. Luffy seemed rather young and naive.

"Enough howling. Anyone could put up a brave face." Miss All-Sunday flicked something over to the crew, but Heize was too short to see and too lazy to adjust himself to be able to. "Those who yet to know of the difficulty that lies ahead and still rush in are fools."

As Miss Wednesday caught the item thrown, she answered Heize's silent query, "An eternal pose?"

"You'll be able to skip right over your future troubles with that. The needle of that log pose points to an obscure, uninhabited island located right before Alabasta. Moreover, the route you'll be navigating on is unknown to the Baroque Works, so you won't even be followed by anyone."

Nami looked confused at these turn of events, "What? Is she not a bad person then?"

Miss Wednesday shot a look towards the forever smirking woman, "W-why would you give such a thing to me?!"

Zoro answered her question, "... It's probably a trap." He sent a suspicious look to the stranger in question.

She, however, just chuckled yet again, "Oh I wonder about that."

Luffy had a strange look on his face, one that Heize couldn't decipher. It came to a head as he stalked over to miss Wednesday and took the eternal pose. He crushed it in his grip.

There was a beat of silence, which as Heize has found to follow anytime Luffy does something like this, before Nami lunged. Her kick to his face knocked Luffy to the ground. "ARE YOU AN IDIOT?! She came out all the way here to teach us the safest route to Alabasta! What are you going to do if she _does_ turn out to be a good person?"

"Don't you dare think that you can choose the path of our journey." Luffy seemed unrepentant.

' _His reasoning is sound.'_ Heize mused, ' _If I were a captain I'd hate it if some person took command of my ship and set a course I didn't choose.'_

Miss All-Sunday simply smiled, "... I see. How unfortunate."

"LUFFY!" Nami once again turned onto Luffy.

Luffy for his part just ground his teeth, "She blew up that chikuwa mister so I hate her."

"I don't dislike bold men… Let us meet again soon if you survive." She drawled.

"I don't wanna." Blunt as always.

Miss All-Sunday leapt from the ship, landing gracefully on top of a surprisingly large turtle. "Let's go Bunch." The turtle moaned in response. The crew was more surprised to see the turtle than they had been when they saw Miss All-Sunday for the first time.

Finally she had left.

Miss Wednesday collapsed to her knees, "That woman! I don't have the faintest idea of what she's really planning!"

Nami stated simply, "Then it's a waste of time and effort to think about it."

"We've got an incomprehensible person like her on board too you know." Zoro grinned slightly.

Usopp looked to be rather confused, though it makes sense since he and Sanji joined in the midst of everything. "Hey! Explain the situation to us!"

Nami gave him a short overview, in which Heize learned that Miss Wednesday was actually Princess Vivi. How exciting.

With the discussions over, and Vivi reassured that she wouldn't be a bother to the crew, Luffy announced his plan. "It's morning! Sanji! Time for breakfast!"

Heize sighed at the simplicity of the crew surrounding him. Well, mostly at Luffy. Okay, because of Luffy. He made to slink back to his hiding spot when he felt multiple stares on his back. He turned his head slowly to see Luffy standing fairly too close, with diamonds in his eyes.

"Oi, kitty. What's up with you? Are you a special cat?" Heize felt himself freeze at the question, all hopes of running away now thwarted.

* * *

 _Alright. I'm back after so long... well not that long, but still longer than I wish it'd been. Sorry!_

 _School and work have been kicking my ass and I've been studying for a math placement test that I ended up failing, so I've been a bit out of time lately. Hopefully I should be able to pick up my pace a bit. I finally got to sit down and spit out this chapter since I had the day off because of illness whoopwhoop_

 _Anyways,_

 _Yeah, so Heize snuck back on, was found again, met a future adversary, showed an ability. I'd been stewing over how I wanted him to reveal for a bit. Also over what his ability was._

 _Feel free to leave a constructive criticism or random yellings in the comments, thanks!_

 _Next time we meet it'll be in Little Garden, see you then -SunflowerCity_


	7. Always Avoid Those Snarling and Covered

_Ha ha ha... This is really late... sorry! Over a month late to be exact... Well, here y'all are_

* * *

-7-

Always Avoid Those Snarling and Covered in Feathers

Heize felt a cold shiver travel its way down his spine, his dread multiplying by the second. He was pinned to his spot by the inquisitive eyes of the crew of this blasted ship. ' _Damn that sea wench for putting me in this position,'_ Heize snarled internally.

He fully faced them now. Their stares followed his movements, disbelieving. Luffy was just as thrilled as before and asked yet again, "Oi! Mystery cat! Do it again!" He was practically drooling in excitement.

Heize sighed in defeat before allowing himself to shrink as far as he could go. His body twitched and contorted for the briefest of moments, pops and slight pain followed in a manner that only he could feel and hear. In a flash he was eye level with their shoes, looking boredly up at Luffy. Said captain's eyes widened even further, his smile as well.

"Awesome! OI! You should join my crew mystery cat!"

Heize's fur along his spine stiffened and he felt his body grow taut at the mere suggestion. If he went along with these danger seekers who knew if he'd make it to his destination. A warning hiss rumbled its beginnings through his throat. In response, his body grew. Larger than his original size, he grew until he reached his limit. His green eyes glinted from above as he towered over the crew, Heize just wanted to be left alone by this godforsaken crew.

None of his intimidation techniques seemed to work on the excited captain. In fact they seemed to do the opposite of what he desired. Luffy's smile had widened to inhuman lengths and was full on drooling at this point.

"I've decided! You're gonna be in my crew!" Luffy declared. The rest of the crew gawked at him.

"You can't just adopt any random cool thing you see into the crew as you please!" Nami almost screamed at him, her displeasure practically tangible.

"I've decided it though, and I'm the captain, so it's decided." Luffy sounded so blasé and nonchalant about it that the rest of the crew were unable to argue. They could only look on in disbelief.

None were more shocked than Heize however. He was out of his depth. He was used to rude mice and idiot dogs, not idiotic and reckless seamen. The more he thought about the offer given, the better it seemed for some stupid reason. If he did stay with them, they could make it deeper into the Grand Line, however with their rash actions Heize could end up dying earlier than expected. Looking at his options and data presented in front of him, Heize could only nod like a fool.

"Shishishi looks like we've got a new crewmember!" Luffy once again turned and began to badger Sanji for food, leaving Heize in a dazed state of confusion.

The other crewmembers sent wary yet pitying looks towards him, as if they understood his dilemma. Perhaps they did.

Heize suddenly felt exhausted at these idiotic turn of events. He let himself drop into his regular size and collapse onto his side. Sleep, he decided, would solve the problem for now.

After being awoken by a nudge on his back, Heize flipped over to see a sandal poking at his spine. Glancing up at the owner of the shoe, he could only scowl as the face of his newly determined captain stared down at him.

"Come on! We're going on an adventure! Shishishi!" His laugh echoed on the ship where he could see Nami with her head in her hand and Sanji exiting the kitchen with a backpack larger than Heize himself.

Heize took a look at Luffy and then at the crew before making a split decision.

He jumped up in front of Luffy and made his way off the caravel. Taking a glance back towards the crew, he continued into the dense forest. He could barely hear an exasperated cry of, "Even the damn cat," from a despairing crew member, but he ignored it in favor of checking his surroundings.

Trees taller than him surrounded Heize, and caws from unrecognizable creatures called out to him.

"Kahahaha a rodent's come to play" A voice shrieked from the trees.

"Come to play, come to play" Another echoed.

"Who's it gonna play with first?"

"Kreekakahaha more like who's going to play with it first!"

"Mama always said finders keepers"

Heize listened cautiously, waiting to see if the ring of shrieks were getting closer.

One

Two

Three

Now!

Heize stretched out, his height increasing as his claws extended. His teeth pulled back and a snarl rose. "You better stay away from me, or see what'll happen. Tell your friends this too."

The strange creatures laughed.

"Stay away, stay away, kyakaka"

"Like hell we will, rodent!"

They dove but Heize was quicker. He struck in a flash. One creature fell in an instant, shocked into silence. Its partner was more vocal, "Mic! Mic! Mic fell!" Heize sent a glare towards it, and as if sensing the danger it flew off without the newly named Mic.

Mic was lying on the ground, frozen from the unexpected attack. Heize, feeling particularly unforgiving, spat at him, "Should've just left like I told you to."

Creatures elsewhere could hear the shriek that echoed through the trees. They also heard as it cut off into a cutting silence.

Taking a look at Mic, Heize could see a defined set of wings across his arms as well as on his legs. Mic was a bird of some sort, but not one Heize had ever seen before. His beak was rather curved and Mic had a strange plume on top of his head, giving an awkward sight to behold. Not to mention Mic's flared feathered tail, which was almost longer than his entire body.

Strange.

Regardless, Heize was ready to move on. There was more to explore after all!

In his adventuring, Heize had failed to notice one small detail. He, was in fact being tailed. The creature following him was not all that small either. It was bigger than him, and lacked much of Heize's subtlety. It was a miracle that Heize hadn't noticed it.

He did notice, however, when the shadow that lapped at his heels lurched forward. Swiftly turning around, Heize stood face to face with a creature of likes he'd never seen. Perhaps a foot taller than him but twice as long, the creature stood. It's curved beak-like jaws gaped at him.

"How'd you see me! I was using my best evasive maneuvers!" It squawked at him.

Heize snorted, "You weren't that secretive. I caught you pretty quick"

"Shoot. Now my dinner plans have been foiled." Its long feathered tail swished almost angrily, though its eyes shone with embarrassment.

"Sorry to ruin your night, but I plan on living," Heize bit back drily.

"Nah, I suppose it's okay. I'll just have to settle with making a new friend."

Heize felt his frustration explode, "Who's your new friend!?"

"Why you are of course! We've been together for a little while now, so I think that makes us best friends!" The creature looked excited and oh so happy at the prospect of making a new friend, regardless of how it may not be consensual. Heize still couldn't feel sympathy for the obviously lonely creature, he'd choose when he wanted to be friends damn it!

"At this point I'd rather be eaten. Best friends my ass. We don't even know each other's names."

"OH! You're right! I'm Dilo! What's your name?" Turning eager eyes onto Heize, the creatures cute expression wore Heize down and tore at his heart.

He sighed. "Heize, but I'm not your frie-"

"Awesome! Now that we're best friends lets go on an adventure!" Dilo interrupted, cutting off the attempted refusal of friendship. Heize felt his soul leave slightly as his new 'friend' dragged him off towards the opposite direction he wanted to go.

They walked for what felt like forever, with Dilo chatting for the entire time. They brushed on various topics, one of which was about this island. They called it Little Island, where the only thing that was little was you. And boy did Heize feel that. Every tree towered over him, the leaves as big as his face. The calls of strange beasts constantly cut through the silence in the air.

As he passed through a bush, he came to a stop at the sight of blue eyes in front of him. The eyes widened, blinked, and then widened even further. The owner of the eyes growled, not an intimidating growl but a strangely frightened growl.

At the sound, Dilo poked his head to catch a glimpse of the beast in front of Heize. After a moment of staring, he gasped.

"Compie! Is that you?! I haven't seen you for ages! Where did you go?"

The creature, Compie, took a cautious step forward. "Oh, you know, just around." Compie had a meek voice, one that did not fit his looks whatsoever. He looked absolutely terrifying and that one wrong move and Heize would be eaten.

Heize was apprehensive about this second strange creature. ' _Too many monsters on one island'_ He mentally grumbled. Compie's sharp teeth looked especially intimidating. His disposition, however, was not.

After a minute, Compie finally remembered Heize, "Oh goodness Dilo. Is this the rodent that i've heard about? The skyers have been talking about them every since Mic feel. Are you sure he's actually safe? Were you forced to walk with him?" He took a pause to gasp, "Are you being threatened? What's going on?"

Dilo laughed brashly, "Gahahaha! Nah, Compie! Heize here is my new best friend! We've even gone on a walk together!"

Heize, being the proud cat he was, was insulted at the attack against his character. "I'll have you know I would never threaten someone weaker than me! It goes against all of my principles.

Compie sent him a look, but Dilo just laughed again, "OH! Compie! You should walk with us!"

Compie's eyes widened and his mouth trembled slightly. "You want me… to walk with you?"

"Of course!"

Heize rolled his eyes. "Why do you have something better to do? Do you have a meeting at 3 to whimper at a tree?" Compie gave him a wounded glance after that.

"Alright… I guess I could come with."

And so, their trio walked on, listening to the melody given to them by the trees. At the beginning Dilo and Compie would point out things they thought to be interesting, but the list for Dilo was too long. That child found everything to be interesting. For Compie, the list was too short. He was too nervous to bring up anything important.

They continued their path until they reached a large tree. It was taller than the rest and distinctly smelt like burnt rubber. The vicious odor assaulted Heize's senses, overtaking any other smell he could've caught instead. Stopping in front of the tree, he suddenly couldn't look away. The intense shade of the leaves clashed with the foreboding sense of doom he felt at the sight. His companions stopped a foot ahead.

"Hey! Hey, Heize! What'd you stop for? Is it that tree? I've heard it's the largest tree in the forest, not that I've been over here before. Rumors travel fast around these parts." Dilo's excited as always voice resounded through the trees. However it held a certain note of anxiety beneath.

"H-hey, we shouldn't loiter around these parts… I've heard that some of the bigger monsters wait for their prey here." Compie was nervous, and that should have gotten Heize to move, but something bigger caught his eye.

It was large. Leathery skin adorned its entire length. Curled toe-like claws touched the ground lightly. Heize couldn't see where it reached to, but it was certainly bigger than Heize could ever be.

Jolted at the sight, Heize was finally roused from his daydream. "O-oh yeah, we should go. Let's get a move on then."

As they began to move, a rumble shook the island beneath them. The trees quivered and the leaves sang in the wind. Clouds overhead began to darken, the sky turning along with them. Suddenly, an explosion rang out. Looking up as far as he could, Heize could barely make out the tip of a volcano. One that was erupting.

However, he couldn't watch for long. His spine sent a shiver down the length of his spine. A dark warning settled in the air. A promise.

Trying to get a hold of the situation, Heize quickly shot Dilo a look and shouted, "Guys, Let's get out of he-"

A drip.

Silence.

"Compie?"

* * *

 _Hello! Late again! I meant to have this out by Saturday but homework really kicked my ass._

 _Anyways,_

 _I decided to have Heize go off on his own to get a sense of adventure really... I don't want to stick too close to canon, so some arcs will be closer than others._

 _Bonus points to anyone who can guess what types of dinosaurs I based Mic, Dilo, and Compie off of! (Also Ket but that's for next time if you catch my drift)_

 _Alrighty!_

 _Next time I see y'all will be on Drum Island! (The long awaited arc that will allow Heize to interact) - SunflowerCity_


	8. Watch Your Neck, I'm Coming For It

-8-

Watch Your Neck, I'm Coming for It

It dripped and stank. The blood dripped down his nose, leaving trails of copper behind. Heize was not unused to blood, but this made him nauseous. Blood from an acquaintance was new; it was not to be trifled with. He knows he should run. That he should just leave Dilo and run.

Heize felt it. A mixture of stress and fear wracking his nerves. The tingles shooting down his spine, sending sparks of emotion to each limb. The desperate instinct to run ingrained in his bones screamed at him. Never had he felt such a strong presence. The air shook with every breath the beast took, and with it, took Heize's confidence.

He stole a glance towards Dilo. The small feathered creature was stiff. Fear and grief tainted his scent. Heize, for once, had no idea what to do. Luckily, but incredibly unfortunately, he did not have to decide.

The trees shook around him once more and Heize barely had a moment before he shoved Dilo out of the way. "Move! We don't know what that thing is!" His voice trembled in the beginning, for a reason Heize didn't want to ponder over quite yet.

Heize had shoved the nervous creature away at the perfect ground where they had just stood shattered into a cloud of dust. Stray rock shot out towards the pair.

Dilo's frightened eyes turned slowly towards him; a question posed within them. In an instant Heize decided. He'd protect this weak bastard who wormed his way into Heize's good graces. God knows how that happened, but Heize wasn't going to question it. He didn't have time to.

A shrieking laughter filled the clearing. The ground vibrated and the trees quivered as if the wind was about the knock them over. Maybe it was. Maybe the sheer force of this awful beast would crush everything in its path.

"Three meals today?! I never get more than one, but THREE in succession? My, my, my, it must be my lucky day." While the beast's voice grated on Heize's ears, the scathing tone terrified him further. It's tone spoke of pain; pain that would never end until he did. Heize could feel it.

He could see her. Her beak stretched as far as her neck. Razor sharp, it promised a long miserable death. Her feathered face was covered in scars from past battles so obviously won that looking at them gave Heize a twisted feeling in the pit of his stomach. Her body was hidden by the foliage, a fact that made Heize both grateful and anxious. " _How big could she actually be? I doubt that she's actually bending down to lull us into false security, but that's also exactly what she could be doing."_ His mind raced, trying to come up with the most logical solutions. There were none.

"Who are these wretched creatures that decided to take a stroll here? Did you come to visit me? I don't get many, and when I do, they never seem to come back." Her beak opened in a not-quite-a-smirk smirk. Her beak disallowed her from making the full mouth movement, but her eyes screamed doom and finished the expression.

Sensing the destruction in their future, Heize quickly turned to Dilo. "We have to run. You can't defeat her, and I don't think I'd survive a fight." Hopefully the rambunctious creature would agree with his evaluation. It was obviously a battle they could not win.

"A-alright. But where will we go?" His anxiety was obvious to a quick glance behind them, Heize made a snap decision.

"Pick a direction. I've never been in this forest before now, so you're going to have to lead us out. Pick quickly. She's getting up." Getting up indeed. She was gradually pulling her massive self up to full size. She was too big. Nodding at Dilo, they made a quick turn to the right. They sprinted as fast as they could, but her laughter followed.

"Did you think you could run away? I've lived longer than you could dream! I will catch you. Don't doubt that. It's just a matter of deciding who's first. I wonder, do I eat the snack first or the dessert?" Her voice rumbled, but the screech of anger that followed sent shivers down the pair's spines. She was mad, experienced, and on the prowl.

"Ket was always terrifying. My parents said to avoid her territory, but this was an adventure and I thought she wasn't due to wake up for another year." Dilo complained between pants.

"You know that monster?!" Heize almost shrieked at him. He had never faced such unashamed stupidity. "Why didn't you warn me?"

"Everyone knows Ket. She's the monster of the forest. She'll nosh on anyone that crosses her during her feeding time. She only feeds once every however long. I always forget the dates, you know. It's hard remembering details; I don't know how you manage to do it." All of his words seemed to tumble out of his mouth.

"I don't understand why you didn't tell me! This could have been avoided!"

"Yeah, well, I forgot. You know, the dates. They get so mixed up in my head and I just forget. Like right now. I forgot. Whoops."

Heize felt a migraine coming. "You forgot. That's it. I'm going to die next to an amnesiac idiot. Tell my family not to cry for me."

"Hey now, don't be mean! I try hard to remember the details. I just forget a lot of them!"

As Heize was going to reply, he stopped. Before them stood a sheer rock face. The stone blocked their path in a wall that stood over 50 feet tall. Taller than Heize could ever grow. He felt his migraine grow alongside his ever present anxiety. They were going to be eaten by a fucking lizard-bird. Great.

Speaking of lizard-birds, Ket slithered forwards. Her full height was what Heize feared: massive. Clawed wings rested on the ground in front of her, the talons stained by blood and dirt, his future if he couldn't think his way out of this mess.

Thinking quickly, he decided if he died, someone had to survive and it sure as hell couldn't be Ket. He sent a glance towards Dilo. Yeah. Someone had to survive.

"You run the moment I tell you to. No questions, no negotiating." Heize's tone was firm. He was not compromising on this.

Dilo shot him an incredulous look, "But I can't just leave yo-"

"You'll do exactly that. I can't have two new friends die on the same day now can I?" Despite the jovial turn his words took, he was serious.

Dilo's mouth snapped shut at the words, no doubt hyper aware of the drying blood resting on his jaw. He sent Heize a quick nod, an action he appreciated. Even if it was as noncommittal as it could.

Heize allowed himself to grow as large as he could, sadly not enough to tower over Ket as he'd like. He barely brushed the tip of the cliff face.

His newfound size sparked interest in Ket's eyes. "Oh my, a full sized meal! I haven't had one in so long. I thank you for donating yourself to my cause. Rest assured it will be greatly appreciated!" And with her last words her eyes sharpened and Heize felt the wind brush past him.

He dodged as quickly as he could; the wind whipped past him, bringing a sharp pain in his shoulder. He hadn't been successful. Heize cursed lightly.

"Damn, I thought I could dodge at least the first attack. I have to be quicker." Realizing his position he scanned for her once more. She stood with a wicked grin, contorting her beak in an uncomfortable manner.

"Oh hunny. Did you think you could be faster than me? I've lived too long for some green-nosed rookie to take me on!" Her voice deepened to a growl by the time her sentence was spat from her beak. Heize felt his ears flick back. Fear.

He tensed his hind legs. ' _Now or never'_ His mind whispered to him. Heize listened.

His tail lashed through the trees, trampling the branches in his way. He made a quick lunge for her throat. The only spot open enough for him to attack. Blood filled his mouth as he catches a wing instead. Her shriek of pain causes the forest to quake. Heize felt a small bit of satisfaction at causing the pain. He did not feel satisfied, however, when she reared back and snapped his tail with her beak.

Agony filled every nerve in his body. His tail shook with pain. It wasn't a clean break; her beak gave the limb a shattering he hadn't calculated. He knew her jaws were strong but he didn't account for his extremities being caught in the crossfire.

His tail wouldn't move. It twitched on command, but couldn't raise more than an inch before it was too much. Heize's eyes watered briefly, he wasn't good with pain.

She laughed. "Oh I'm sorry. Was that too much for little baby stranger? I suppose you don't know how to feel pain properly yet, if that hurt you. Don't worry. I'll make sure you learn before it's too late."

Heize hated this. He hated not being in control. He was better at stealth than full frontal attacks.

Finally catching a strategy, he shrunk and darted towards the trees. His small size made him less of a target, but that didn't mean Ket didn't try to snag him anyways. Her beak was made for diving and picking off her targets. It hit the ground next to him, creating a crater that was larger than Heize himself. Suddenly, he realized that this goddamn forest would be his gravesite.

Ducking behind a tree, he hears her give a huff. "Fine. If you don't want to play, I'll just have to enjoy dessert first." And with that, she gave a flap of her enormous wings and launched herself back to the cliff.

Back to Dilo.

Heize felt his heart seize in his chest. His first actual friend. Gone. Heize couldn't protect anything. Not his friends, not his crew, not even his br-

No. Not anymore. Heize wouldn't lose anyone else. He'd make sure of it.

Heize forced himself to grow until he couldn't anymore, still not enough to tower over Ket, but enough to face her. He shot off in the direction she left and bared his teeth in anger.

" _How dare she go after someone under my protection. And I thought I told him to leave damn it!"_ His mental mutterings petered off when he saw the scene before him.

Dilo.

On the ground. Bleeding.

Rage.

The only emotion he felt was rage. It boiled in his stomach and bubbled out to his throat where he could only listen as a noise he had never made before tumbled out of his mouth. The growl, while not as impressive as Ket's, vibrated the air. His limbs relaxed before tensing completely, ready to leap in a moments notice.

And leap he did. Heize launched himself towards the monster. Teeth bared, claws extended, and growling, he lunged. He could only watch as she gracefully dodged out of the way, disappointment travelling through him until he felt his claw neatly slice through her side. However, in his momentary excitement at causing harm, he failed to see the wing shot at him with surprising speed.

It landed. Heize smelt it before he saw it. Before he felt it. The pain, that is. The monumental pain that occurred when struck. This multiplied when the reality set in and Heize realized _where_ he had been struck. There were many places that were dangerous to be hit. Any place with arteries for example. Another good one would be the neck.

Ah yes, the neck. The holder of the head, the spine, and the throat. Necessary to most all creatures. Heize was one. Ah yes, the neck.

It was on fire. It burned with agony that only relit the flame in his tail. Pain on either side, with his head caught taking it all in. His neck wasn't broken, at this point he'd be dead if that happened, but it wouldn't stop bleeding and Heize was confused.

He didn't know what to do. He could run, but face the guilt of comdemning Dilo to death. He could face Ket and die with honour, ultimately being absolved of guilt, but Dilo still dies. He could also win the fight, but that was incredibly improbable. He wasn't at the level to do so. Heize weighed his options.

Honour sounds very nice. He'd die with honour, not guilt.

* * *

 ** _Ha ha... Helloo.._**

 _I am indeed alive, despite my long disappearance. I struggled a bit with finding motivation, but also time. School is really kicking my ass this year, but I'm gonna try to keep these chapters coming. hopefully with some kind of schedule... probably not. (I'm not gonna make promises I cannot keep.)_

 _I finally set up an outline for these chapters and it honestly helps me create a base of what happens and branch off as I please._

 _Weird tangent: This story is almost 40 pages long. That is the most I've ever written. Ever. And I still have more ideas! How exciting!_

 ** _Onto today's chapter:_**

 _Whew. Today was full of minimal dialogue, the first actual action scenes, and the consequences of inaction. Will Heize feel guilty for Compie's death? obviously. Will we see it change him as a character? I hope so._

 _Any guesses as to what Ket, Compie, and Dilo could be? Ket is my favourite, though Mic could be a close second. You know Mic right? The weird flying creature that Heize picked off with no remorse? That one. I have a bad habit of naming characters purely to kill them. Whoops_

 ** _Anyways. See you next time, where we'll finally leave Little Garden! - SunflowerCity_**


End file.
